Annunciator



I W. L. WEBFR.

Patent-@f1 Aug. 22,1916. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ANNUNCIATOR. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4.1915.

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WILLIAM L. WEBER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS..

ANNUNC Application tiled February G Toall whom t may concern: p

Be it known that I, `WILLIAM L. WEBER, a citizen of the United States, residing 'at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand .useful Improvements in Annunciators, of which the following 1s a specification.

l mechanical annunciator through the agency of which, as soon as an order is received by a waiter it is noiselessly announced in the kitchen, and whereby a record is maintained in the kitchen ot' duplicate orders for any one article in sucha manner that the 4cook may ascertain at a glance the exact number number. I preferably employ in association of orders for such article waitingto be filled. 'Y f In its essential features the device comprises an annunciator board located in the n kitchen within plainview of the cook, bearing labels corresponding to the various ar` .ticles or items on the -menu card, and in association with 4each label, is a movable device adapted to bring successively into ,view successivenumerals, each indicative of the number of unfilled orders for thatarticle received in the-kitchen; This movable device- `is preferably actuated step by step by elec trical means througlra circuit closed by the waiter in .the dlnmg room upon receipt of the order;and, as soon as an order has'hcen Iiilled, the cook actuates a device wherebythe numerical annunciator device is set back one with each of said devices on the annunciatorl :board a visual signal, sueltas a lamp, vwhich burns continuously so long as any order for the articlewith which it is associated remains unfilled, but is automatically extinguished"` as soon as there are no orders for such article remainingunfilled.

:The device of my invention, its mode of use, and the advantages resulting therefrom i Specification of Letters Patent.

IATOR.

vPatented Aug. 22, 1916. 4, 1915. serial No. 6,003.

will all be readily understood when con-y sidered in connection with the accompanye ing drawings wherein I have illustrated one practical embodiment of the device, and in whichl Figure 1 is a front elevation of a frag ment of the annunciator board; Fig. 2 isa similar view, enlarged, illustrating one of the annunclator sections; Flg. 3 is a vertical section through one compartment or section of the annunciator` board illustrating the removable annunciator vmechanism contained' therein seen onthe line 3-f3 of Fig. Fig. 4 isa similar section as seen on the line 1-ft of Fig. 5, the armature and pawl operated thereby bein'g shown in normal inoperative position; Fig. 5 is a horizontal sec-l tion through one of said compartments, showing the annunciator mechanism in top plan View, the armature and pawl being shown in position at the end of their operative stroke; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the circuits of the operating magnetand lamp of the annunciator mechanism; Fig. 7 isa diagrammatic View, somewhat more in detail than Fig. 6, illustrating the circuit of the annunciator lamp.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a vertical wall -which may be' one of the walls of the kitchen, or the vertical wall of ,a specially constructed cabinet for the auf nunciator board, and 11 designates each of a group of horizontal shelves mounted on and 'projecting forwardly of the back wall 10,

the space between saidv shelves 11 being dio rectangular compartments. To the front of the/bottom wall of each compartment is secured a label holder 13 containing a card v vided by verticallpartitions 12 into 'a series or label 413 on which is printed the name of one of. the dishes served in the establishment.

Within each compartment are housed the principal parts of the a'nnunciatorl mechanism, as follows: 14 designates as an entirety a rectangular metal box of a size to s lidably fit within the'compartment, being entered through the open frontend of the Y 105 y latter and, at its rear end abutting against a stop 15. Secured to the bottom wall of the box14 are a pair of standards 16 journaled in and between the upper ends of annunciator wheel or disk 18 having a polygonal periphery, each face of which bears Which is a shaft 17 on which is keyed .an

a numeral, as shown in Fig.- 57 vthe numerals '65 another ratchet .disk 35 (Fig. ,3), the fteeth being arranged in successive order from` z'ero up. `A wheel having ten faces bearing the numerals 0. to 9 inclusive is herein shown, but obviously the number of faces and corresponding numerals employed is In the front wall of the box is anopenin'g .19 (Fig. 2), through which 'the numerals on the faces of the annunciator immaterial.

' if'wheel show as they are brought into register with said opening.. Suitably mounted in the box, in rearof the annunciator disk is van electromagnet 20, herein' shown as a twin spool`l magnet, with which copratesv 4an armature plate 21, the ends of whichare formed with forwardly extending ears 22 that aresecured to the vertical limbs 23 of al bail-shaped member 24 that, in turn, is journaled near its lower end on a pivot shaft 25, in turn mounted in a pair of upstanding y lugsf26 on the bottom'of the box. .Oneof thearms 23 -is somewhatlonger than the other, and pivotally connected toits upper enilis a hook v27, the free end ofwhich rides oven'and engages the teeth of a ratchet disk per lnclinededge 27 of the free end of the hook 27 is confined by a keeper 29 that may conveniently be formed as a bent-over por- 'ation' ofthe upper end ofone of the standards 16, and'which serves to prevent oferthrow of the annunciator wheel." The bailshaped member 24 which carries the hook 27 andthe armature plate isnormally' urged in a direction away -from the 'core of the magnetland toward the anmnciator disk layy a'spring 30 anchored at its' lower end to the? pivot shaft 25, and at its upper end engag ing the arm 2 3 that carries the hook"27.`` From the .foregoing it will be seen that each 40 time-fthe magnet Yis energized the hook 27 willgbe' actuated in a rearward dlrection,

y thereby turning the annunciator hlisk 18 to an extent corresponding-tothe angular distance between two` yadjacent-teeth of the ratchet disk 28, this .corresponding lto the f angle subtendedby one face of the anunciatnr,disk; To prevent hack-thrownnder the rei-n n movement of hook 27 the shaft 17 is provi ed with @metal brake disk 31, *the yperiphery of whichis engaged byas rin arm 32 (Fig. 4)- mounted on. an insu atel -post 33 and serving asa brakef shoe. Incidentally, it mayhere-be mentioned that the brake disk 31 and arm 32 perform a lfurther function in.4 connection with the'circuit of the signal lamp, as will be later described,`

and; for which purposethe metal disk- 31 is vprovided at one point its peripheriyl7 "'-an insert 34 yof insulated mater1al;.t

`interrupt thersignal lamp blank orzero 'aceofv the a with is insert 34 engaging the shoe of thearm 32 to 18 registers with ,the'sight opening 19.

'on the other end of the shaft iris keyed cuit when the unciator. disk"- of which face in a direction opposite to those of .the ratchet disk 28. Coperating with the ratchet disk 35 is a dog 36 thatis pivoted at 37 to a dog-carrier 38 that; in

turn, is fast on apush rod 3 9 mounted to slide in -the front wall of the box and in' an upstanding bracket/40 secured to the bottomwall of the box. A. spring 4 1 surrounding the rod 39 and abutting at one end against the bracket 40 and at its other endagainst a collar 42 pinned to the rod, noormally urges the-latter in an' outward direction.

The dog 36 has a tooth 43 adapted to engage i the teeth` of the ratchet disk 35 and is nor- 'mally urged. toward thelatter by a spring 44, but,'in the fully retracted position Aof the push rod 39, is heldout of engagement with the ratchet disk 35 by a stop 45. The

dog 36 also`has a notch 46 adaptedl to co operate withthe ratohetdisk upon the ad- Vance movement of the dog in a manner to prevent overthrow. 'On the outer end ot the push-rod 39yis a knob orbutton 4 7. From the foregoing it willbe evident that when 'fthe rod 39h;v pushed inwa1dly,the'v dog 36 "Secured to thefrear end of the-magnet 20 is an upstanding plate 48 of iiber board or othei insulatin`g material, upon which lattei' are mounted three binding posts 49, 50 and 5.1, respectively, carrying spring contact arms ,52, 53"a n d 54, respectively of-a 'gem -erally U-shape. 'n a cut out portion: of the back wall 10 ,of the annunciator board are secured'three contact members 55,56 and 57 respectlvely, terminating in vvrounded heads between the arms of thespring contacts 52, 53 and 54, as clearly shown in Fig. -g At any suitable location within the din such, for instance, as the 4inner side of a lunch counter, 1s a group of labels corre 'spondingto those on the annuneiator board;

and associated with each is a/ ush-button that controls the'circuit' throng the. magnet o f the' annunciator mechanism of the articular dish indicated by the label. lRelOS - 55., 56 and 57', that, when the box containl lng .the .annunciator mechanism 1s fully entered within its compartment, are engaged.

` ing room convenient of access to the waiters,

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er'x'in tothe diagrammatic. view, Fig'. :6,5`

58 designates such push-button mounted on acontact strip 59 that is normally separated from .a"coperatin'g contact strip 60. The,

magnet circuit may be traced from -o'ne side of battery 61 through the wire 62- (in which"v is included the contact strips 59 and 60),'to

Ithe contact 55, thence through contact stri 52 and binding post 49, to and through the windings of the magnet 20, thence throughi guicheti'.

tact strips 59, 60, and the magnet'energized.

In the front Wall of the box is mounted a lsmall electric lamp 64;. Referring to Figs'.

6 and 7, one terminal of the lamp is con- `nected by a circuit Wire 65 directly to binding post 51, therircuit extending thence' through Contact 54 `to contact 57 and thence by line wire 66 to one side of the battery. The otherterniinal of the lampi is grounded completed through. said box, standard 16, shaft 17, brake disk 3l, metal .brake arm 32,

bindingl post 67, and linevvire 68, the latter leading to binding post 50, and thence through contacts 53 and 56 and Wire 63' tof the other side of the battery.4 This lamp 'circuit is thus continuously closed except when 'interrupted by engagementiof the brake arm 3'2 with the insulated insert 34 of the disk 31. In the practical use of the device, when an order is given by a patron t' a Waiter for a` certain article, the Waiter Vsimply presses the button that is associated -ivith the. label yot' V ,thatl article inthe diningr room .Assuming that there is Vno previous unfilleiorder for this article in the kitchen the annunciator disk pertaining to this, article stands at' blank or zero With its lamp (il: unlighted owf ing to the break in the lamp circuit at 34.,

The closing' of the circuit bythe push-button energizes the magnet and advances the annunoiator disk one step causing the numeral l to show through the opening ,i9 in the 'annunoiator board in the kitchen, .and

at the Sametime lighting the lamp. As soon' as the cook has filled the order, he pushes the knob l? inwardly, which sets the annunciator disk back to Zero and simultaneously extinguishes the lamp. libeiore the irst order is filledand delivered at the kitchen, a second order for the thing is received, the annunciatordislr is advanced another stenannouncing tivo unillml orders in 'the kitchen, Similarly, ii imc or more further orders are received before the previous orders have been lilled, the annunciator disk is .still further advanced, the lamp continuously burning. As soon as 'thc cook has dclivered the first order received, he presses the knob le? and thereby the annunciv ator disk back one stop, this being repeated until all of the orders have been filled, when theannunciator disk will stand at zero or blank, and the signal lamp will be extinio lon-g; as the lamp associated with the label. oit any particular article is burning, the cook knows that there must be one or more unfilled orders vlior that article in the kitchen, and a `glance at the opening if) alwav. shows the num ot such orders ..f'...tingj .iis attention. lt .mi thus be seen Jfor, any order to become lost in the confu' Vbeyond the extent clearly that the device of my invention not only does away with the objectionable shouting of orders back and forth between the dining room and kitchen but makes it impossible scribed, the combination of an annunciator board having a plurality of supports; ixedr 85 electric contact devices associated with each support; a corresponding plurality of annunciator mechanisms removably mounted asI units on said supports respectively; each. of saidy mechanisms including a movable member bearing a series of numerals arrangedin lnumerical suc ession thereon, means including,l an electro-magnet, for moving/said member step-byestep to bring ,the numerals thereon. in increasing order opposite a fixed point, other means for moving said member `step-bystep in the reverse direction, v andl electric Contact devices adapted to automatically engage with said fixed contact devices when the annunciator mechanism is properly positioned on its support; a label associated with and mounted in proximity to each annunciator mechanism, a normallyY open circuit in which said contact devicesand electro-magnet are in- ,cluderh and a manually operable 'circultcloser in said circuit.

ln an annunciator of the character described, the combination of an annunciator board having a plurality of supports; fixed electric contact devices associated 'with each support; a. corresponding; plurality of annunciator mechanisms removably mounted,

units on said supports respectively; each of said mechanisms including a rotatable 'disk bearing a series ol numerals arranged net are included; anda manually operable circuit closer in saidcircuit.

3. I scribe the combination of an annunciatoi' yboardhav'ing a plurality of supports; fixed electric contact devices asv units on said su i orts res ectivel 'l each of said mechanisms including a rotatable disk :bearing aseries of numerals arranged infnumerical sequence on its periphery, means, including an4 electro-inagnet, for turning said disk step-by-step to bring the numerals thereon in increasing order opposite a fixed, point, manually operable means forjturning said disk step-by-stcp in the. reverse direction, electr' i contact devices adapted to automatically engage with said fixed contact devices when the annunciator mechanism is properly positioned on its support, a signal lamp, and a circuit makeand-break device controlled by the turning movements of said witl'i and mounted in proximity to each annunciator mechanism; a normally open circuit in which certain of said contact devices and said electro-magnet are included; a manually' operable circuit closer in said cir- Cuit; and another circuitinv which other of said contact devices, saidsignal lamp, and

said make-and-break device are included.

lax-In an annuiiciator device for restau rants andthe like, the combination of 'an annunciator board mountedin the kitchen and ,formed with a sight opening therein,- a

' label designating `an order to' be filled located on the front of said board in proximity to said sight opening, a movable niember bearing a series of numerals arranged in numerical succession and indicating the numbers of orders received mounted iii rear of said sight opening,:electrical means operable from the diningi'oom for' moving said member in one direction one step at each Vactuation to bring thel numerals thereon in increasing order into view through said sight opening, a remote control for said n an auunciator of the character del*` associated with each'. support;. a corresponding plurality of anf nunciator mechanisms removably mounted numerals arranged disk; a .label associated electrical meansz means operable from the kitchen for moving said member iii the opv posite direction to bring the numerals thereannunciator in condition for forward operation from the ieino e control, a-signal lamp mountedon said board' in proximity to said label and sight opening, an electric circuit .in which saidlamp is included, and means for automatically interrupting said circuit when said orderindicating member is moved to a position indicating no order waiting to be filled.

5. In an aniiunciatoi' device for restaurants and the like, annunciator board mounted in the kitchen and formed with a sight opening therein, a label designating an order to be filled -located on the frontlof said board Kin prcximity to said sight disk bearing upon its periphery a series of -in numerical sequence, said disk being rotatably mounted behind said sight opening iii a manner permitting the numerals thereon to be successively brought into view through'said sight `opening as said disk is rotated, an electro-inagnet, pawl-anderatchet. driving connections between said magnet and said disk, a normally open circuit in which said magnet is included, a circuit-closer for said circuitlocated in the dining-room, a slidably mounted bar located in proximity to said sight opening and operable from the kitchen, pawl-aiid-ratchet connections between said.

l bar and said disk adapted to turn the latter4 in a direction opposite-to that in lwhich it is turned by said magnet, a signal, lamp mounted in proximity to said sight opening,

- an electric circuit in which said lainp-is included, and a circuit make-and-break device controlled by the turning movementsl of said the combination of an4 opening, anl aiinunciator 

